Council clucked no for the third time in one year at a proposed urban hen pilot project for Cochranites.
Council voted 4-3 against administration’s proposed two-year pilot program for a maximum of one household for every 1,500 residents in town, or roughly 18 residences. The pilot would have had extensive restrictions including a maximum of four hens per household with mandatory coop building specifications, setbacks, inspections and a workshop.
Supporters of the project – like Jennifer Walden who spearheaded the idea and hopeful hen owner Dan Overes – are disappointed that Cochrane is not falling in line with the growing list of municipalities, most recently Airdrie, that have launched hen pilots, many adopting them as permanent programs following successful trial runs.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” said Overes, who supported the feathered initiative when it was first presented by Walden in the fall of 2016, “If we were treading new ground here, I would understand, but we’re talking about something that’s being done in towns everywhere.”
The experience has left Walden with doubts about the new council.
“I’m actually hoping that once the new council realizes that we are almost the only community outside of Calgary that does not allow chickens, that they will see the error of their ways in creating sustainable community.”
Mayor Jeff Genung tied his vote in favour of hens to his campaign promise – centered on government moving to role of facilitators and putting the real decision-making power into the hands of the people through a pilot.
“For two years for 18 homes, I think that is a fair compromise,” said Genung, adding that Cochrane is not only a town “steeped in culture” but is also “steeped in agriculture.”
Couns. Susan Flowers and Tara McFadden also voted in favour, on merits of sustainability and that concerns were mitigated through the pilot.
Public concern for the project was highlighted by smell, noise and predator attraction.
“We have lots of wildlife conflicts in the province,” said Cochranite Hendrik Boesch, citing the ongoing bear sightings throughout the year and his concern that Alberta Fish and Wildlife officer resources are spread thin. “In the end, the wildlife would pay for it and we are the ones attracting them to town.”
Leissa Remesoff hopes this is the last time hens are hashed out in council chambers.
“I think it’s a passing fancy … I hope it stays off the agenda,” she said, adding that production rates of four hens are unlikely to sustain the egg consumption demands of the average family and the costs of keeping so few are weighty.
Coun. Marni Fedeyko voted against backyard fowl, as did Couns. Morgan Nagel, Alex Reed and Pat Wilson.
Fedeyko said that she could not support the initiative due to negative feedback from the public and that she would consider getting behind the project if it was perhaps contained to new communities only, rather than introduced into established neighbourhoods.
For Nagel the whole contentious initiative was becoming too onerous, with too many restrictions to be imposed on a pilot that only a handful of citizens could even participate in.
“The whole project has become a major headache and I just don’t think it’s worth all the trouble for a few eggs. I have gone back and fourth on this issue a lot, but I have made up my mind: no farm animals in backyards.”
